Elle was still agonizing over whether or not to go through with her daughter's date when, she heard the
door open and two more people come into the house. She halted at the top of the stairs and turned so she could
look down and saw it was her only son Steven and her youngest daughter Brianna. Steven was the middle child at
13. He was decently tall, with brown hair and blue eyes and an athletic build. He was no star athlete, but he
enjoyed sports, playing soccer mostly but also basketball despite his height disadvantage. It always perplexed
Elle how a boy who was 6' could end up being one of the shorter players on the team. Brianna was the youngest
at 9, and she was Elle's little angel. With her curly red hair, blue eyes and impish smile, Brianna was the
apple of her eye. Not that she couldn't, on occasion, be a 4 and a half foot tall demon spawn as well, but
Elle could never stay mad at her for long.
Steven muttered something unintelligible at Alli before turning to tromp upstairs moodily. Brianna on the
other hand, ran into her faux-mother's arms and gave her a quick hug and a kiss on the cheek before flying up
the stairs. Elle felt a tinge of jealousy directed at Alli. There were few things she looked forward too and
that had been one of them. As Brianna reached the top of the stairs, Elle smiled at her and said "Hi Brianna"
hoping to maybe get a smile out of her. Instead, Brianna stuck out her tongue before running to her room. Elle
was saddened by her response, but she guessed it was to be expected. For some reason, her two daughters had
never gotten along, no matter how Elle tried to make them.
She was just about to turn and go to her daughter's room, now temporarily hers, when the doorknob turned
again and her husband came through the door. Joshua, her husband, was 44, and although he wasn't nearly as
handsome as he had been, he was still not bad looking in his own way. He had gained a few extra pounds around
the middle and his brown hair had thinned, but Elle could still spot the remnants of the man she'd fallen in
love with, even if they were getting harder to see. She never really could explain why they were no longer as
close as they had been. Maybe it was the pressure of raising their kids, maybe they're love just hadn't been
as strong as they thought it was. Whatever the reason, Elle and Joshua had found themselves slowly drifting
apart over the years.
As he came in the door and spotted the faux-Elle, Joshua walked over and swept her into his arms and gave
her a passionate kiss, which she returned. Now Elle's jealousy was really aroused. She had hoped that her
changes she made would keep Alli from becoming too unhappy during their switch, but she had never imagined
anything like this. Elle turned away in disgust. It made sense that with a prettier version of Elle, the old
spark might return. Elle herself had hoped something like that might happen once they switched back, but what
was going on downstairs made her almost feel like she was watching her husband cheating. It wasn't exactly a
betrayal, after all Joshua was kissing his wife, but if felt like one.
Elle made up her mind right then and there. Two could play at this game. If her husband could enjoy himself in her absence, then she was going out tonight and she was going to have fun.